The present invention relates to a staple cartridge and a roll staple and, in particular, to such staple cartridge which is structured such that a roll staple can be loaded easily thereinto and such roll staple which can be loaded easily into such staple cartridge.
There is known an electric stapler using a roll staple which comprises a large number of linear-shaped staples bonded together in parallel and wound into a roll. The roll staple is stored into a staple cartridge before it is used. Conventionally, in general, when the roll staple is used out, the whole staple cartridge is replaced with a new one. However, in view of time and cost necessary for waste disposal, saving of natural resources, destruction of the natural environment, and the like, there is proposed a staple cartridge structured such that the roll staple can be replenished to thereby be able to use the staple cartridge repeatedly.
However, in the staple cartridge of the above type, a high operation efficiency cannot be expected when the roll staple is loaded into the staple cartridge and, therefore, it is urged to facilitate the loading of the roll staple. That is, in the present conventional staple cartridge, after the lid of the cartridge is opened, the roll staple is loaded into a staple loading chamber of the cartridge, and the front portion of the roll staple is inserted into a thin guide groove having a small thickness approximate to the diameter of the roll staple to thereby guide the same onto a staple guide table. In this loading operation, it takes time and labor to insert the roll staple into the guide groove and feed the same up to a position in front of the staple guide table; that is, during this operation, there is a possibility that the roll staple can drop down, the winding of the roll staple can be loosened, and the like.